Tens of thousands bid farewell to Morgan Tsvangirai

Ukraine's 'Orange' coalition is reinstated

The prospect of a snap parliamentary poll in Ukraine has been eliminated after the ruling pro-western 'Orange' coalition was reinstated. It is likely PM Yulia Tymoshenko, President Viktor Yushchenko's ally turned rival, will be confirmed in her post.

Reuters - Ukraine's pro-Western governing coalition, rooted in the 2004 "Orange Revolution", was reinstated on Tuesday and was likely to confirm Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in her post.

The formation of the coalition ended months of wrangling between President Viktor Yushchenko and Tymoshenko, allies during the 2004 mass protests turned rivals. It all but eliminated the likelihood of a snap parliamentary poll.

Groups led by the two antagonists will be joined in the new coalition by a faction led by the assembly's new chairman, Volodymyr Lytvyn. He said he saw few reasons to choose a new premier.

"We have a government, we have a prime minister," Lytvyn told reporters after announcing the coaltiion.

"Clearly, there will be proposals from the coalition on the make-up of the government. I see no legal grounds for substantial changes in the government and, first and foremost, the prime minister."

Lytvyn announced the restoration of the coalition minutes after being elected to his post with backing from 244 members of the 450-seat assembly.

Parliament had been all but deadlocked since September when the president's Our Ukraine party walked out of its alliance with the premier's bloc.

Yushchenko is at odds with Tymoshenko on a wide variety of issues a year before a presidential election in which both politicians may run.

The president initially tried to resolve the conflict by dissolving the chamber and calling a snap election but parliament and the government refused to finance the poll and in the face of the world financial crisis, he shelved the idea.

Ukraine's leaders, brought to power by the protests of 2004, have tried to move the ex-Soviet state closer to the West, but relations with Moscow, the country's main energy supplier, have deteriorated sharply under Yushchenko.

The country, largely dependent on its steel and chemical industries, has been hit hard by the world financial crisis and secured a $16.4 billion IMF loan.